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Topic: How is Munich malt made? (Read 1847 times)

We have local malster that sells his own version of Munich Malt. So, just curious, what makes the Munich malt a little different? I have been using the Munich Dark Malt for my Dunkels, and is rich in malty flavor. I also add in a small bit of Melanoidin malt to enhance the malt overtones.

Munich malt differs in the kilning, not the germination stages of malting. Pale/Pils malts are dried to just a few percent moisture at around 120°F before being raised to around 180°F for a light toasting. Munich has somewhat more moisture when the temperature is raised, and it is raised to around 220°F. This means a small amount of "mashing" can happen, a little sugar is produced in the grain and then caramelized a bit in the kiln (other color and aroma substances besides caramel are made as well.) Variations of these procedures make other malts. Even more moisture and high temps (allowing complete conversion to sugar inside the husk) make caramel or crystal malts, moisture same as for pale malt but with the higher temperatures give Vienna and biscuit type malts. Melanoidin is made by a process where ventilation is shut off toward the end of germination, so that temperature and enzyme activity increase before any drying, so even more of the substances that characterize Munich malt are produced. (That's the short version, some expert will say I oversimplify!) I think of it this way, Munich>Melanoidin>Crystal lie on one continuum (involving higher moisture at the start of kilning), on another (low moisture) lie Pils/pale>Vienna>biscuit/Amber. Hope this is helpful.

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

That does look delicious! You will see some homebrew recipes using a portion of Pils malt in Dunkels, because homebrewers were once told this was either necessary or true to German practice, while neither is true. Around the forum consensus favors recipes like yours: it's best to use a mix of different dark type malts for rich, complex malt flavor and some dehusked roast type for color adjustment.

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

That does look delicious! You will see some homebrew recipes using a portion of Pils malt in Dunkels, because homebrewers were once told this was either necessary or true to German practice, while neither is true. Around the forum consensus favors recipes like yours: it's best to use a mix of different dark type malts for rich, complex malt flavor and some dehusked roast type for color adjustment.

I talked with a German brewer that makes some good Dunkel. Asked him to look over my recipe, he recommended up to 20% pils for the enzymes. There are some other references out there that have some lighter colored malts. Also remember that not all breweries in Germany use Weyermann, so the Munich malt they use might need a little help. Some still Decoct which helps a 99% 40 EBC Munich convert.

Just saying that here isn’t one ingredient list or process to make a really good Dunkel.

« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 12:53:53 AM by hopfenundmalz »

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Jeff RankertAnn Arbor Brewers GuildAHA Governing Committee BJCP NationalHome-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Yeah, I love the taste of Munich but it only has a diastatic power of 40-50 Lintner depending on which kind you get. Adding a bit of highly modified malt will help your conversion a lot.

40-50 linter is about what British pale ale malt has, 35 is plenty to convert a mash. Moreover, it has been 50+ years since you could find a Munich with questionable enzymes (note conversion times on spec sheets are in line with other base malts), just like Pils that needs a protein rest; these are myths perpetuated in the homebrew community. Decoction is almost a unicorn even with Dunkels, but would be the only place Pils would be appropriate; not for the enzyme package with available malts, but to LIGHTEN the color and flavor. So for homebrewers, the takeaway is, go Munich and color and have no fear!

EDIT Jeff, I wonder if the brewer you talked to was also influenced by tradition more than the current state of materials?

« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 03:03:14 AM by Robert »

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

I usually add a 1/2 tsp of amylase enzyme to the mash. That might help a bit. It says "Increases Fermentability".

One danger of the amylase you buy in the brew shop is that it doesn't know when to quit. You may reduce all carbohydrates to the point where attenuation is high, but other qualities are lacking. I know that Briess recommends using Bonlander only to 50% because they regard it as more specialty malt than base, and expect it will be used to add flavor to their 2 row. If this is where you have a concern about my enzymes, consider finding a European malt for your lighter Munich, they are all true base malt.

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Yeah, I love the taste of Munich but it only has a diastatic power of 40-50 Lintner depending on which kind you get. Adding a bit of highly modified malt will help your conversion a lot.

40-50 linter is about what British pale ale malt has, 35 is plenty to convert a mash. Moreover, it has been 50+ years since you could find a Munich with questionable enzymes (note conversion times on spec sheets are in line with other base malts), just like Pils that needs a protein rest; these are myths perpetuated in the homebrew community. Decoction is almost a unicorn even with Dunkels, but would be the only place Pils would be appropriate; not for the enzyme package with available malts, but to LIGHTEN the color and flavor. So for homebrewers, the takeaway is, go Munich and color and have no fear!

EDIT Jeff, I wonder if the brewer you talked to was also influenced by tradition more than the current state of materials?

He is a degreed brewer. His brewery is known for a Dunkel. I have been under the impression that traditional Dunkels were all dark Munich and decocted, if you go back far enough, before Pils malt.

There is a 19th century Dunkel recipe in the Jan-Feb 2018 New Brewer that uses:

Yeah, I love the taste of Munich but it only has a diastatic power of 40-50 Lintner depending on which kind you get. Adding a bit of highly modified malt will help your conversion a lot.

40-50 linter is about what British pale ale malt has, 35 is plenty to convert a mash. Moreover, it has been 50+ years since you could find a Munich with questionable enzymes (note conversion times on spec sheets are in line with other base malts), just like Pils that needs a protein rest; these are myths perpetuated in the homebrew community. Decoction is almost a unicorn even with Dunkels, but would be the only place Pils would be appropriate; not for the enzyme package with available malts, but to LIGHTEN the color and flavor. So for homebrewers, the takeaway is, go Munich and color and have no fear!

EDIT Jeff, I wonder if the brewer you talked to was also influenced by tradition more than the current state of materials?

He is a degreed brewer. His brewery is known for a Dunkel. I have been under the impression that traditional Dunkels were all dark Munich and decocted, if you go back far enough, before Pils malt.

There is a 19th century Dunkel recipe in the Jan-Feb 2018 New Brewer that uses:

Traditional or modern? The article as authored by Horst Dornbusch and Thomas Kraus-Weyermann. That last guy might be the authority. I still need to look up Special W.

Thanks Jeff, interesting. Th. K-W is surely an expert on malt as we know it! But this leads me to another question: What was Vienna malt at the time? Thausing (he should speak with authority) states that a Vienna beer as we think of it, intermediate between Munich and Pilsner in color and hop rate, was only produced at Vienna for a brief period in the 1850s, rapidly replaced by a beer increasingly indistinguishable from Pilsner.

My understanding too that original regional beers were single malt. We need the color malt if not decocting a Dunkel, but Munich provides the flavor. Many formulations are indeed possible. Czech darks of course are today mostly Pils and color malts!

But commercial recipes are a digression. My point, to the OP and other homebrewers, is that our available methods and materials support a worry-free all-dark-plus-color approach as giving the best result.

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

One of my first guides on this subject, and still useful, was an article, "Special Malts for Greater Beer Type Variety" by Prof. Narziss, in the Winter 1993 _Zymurgy_, reprinted from _Brauwelt International_, IV/1991 pp. 284-92. It offers a primer on the modern manufacture and specs of malts including Munich and Melanoidin types among others, sample grain bills, lab analyses of beers, and more in a short, accessible form. (It's the only _Z_ from back in the day I've kept!)

EDIT In the article, Narziss complains that modern Dunkels often have far too strong a roast malt flavor!

« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 04:08:05 PM by Robert »

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Rob Stein Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.